Manchester City suffered a couple of injury setbacks this weekend, and now they find themselves with a pretty extensive injury list as the new season dawns. The likes of Rodri (groin injury), Josko Gvardiol (unspecified knock), Phil Foden (ankle problem), Mateo Kovacic (Achilles recovery taking longer than expected) and Claudio Echeverri (also an ankle) could all miss out on the season opener at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Manager Pep Guardiola gave an update on some of these players this past weekend.
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“He is getting better, but he had a big [groin] injury in the last game [of the CWC] vs Al-Hilal,” Guardiola said of Rodri after Saturday’s 3-0 win at Palermo.
“He has trained better in the last few days. Hopefully, after the international break, he will be really fit.
“Hopefully, in these games, he can play some minutes, but what is important is that he doesn’t have pain because we don’t want Rodri coming back injured. We will try desperately to avoid that… He has been training the last two sessions with us, and that’s good.”
Last season was obviously very rough for Rodri, who missed most of the campaign due to an ACL injury.
On Foden, Pep offered the following update on Saturday:
“He has a problem in his ankle, and that’s why we didn’t take a risk. I don’t know [if he will play against Wolves]. It’s just a knock – it was painful – but he will be ready when he is ready.”
He could make the squad on Saturday, possibly. We’ll probably know more as the weekend approaches. When it comes to Echeverri and Gvardiol, not much is known about their status at this time, but don’t expect either one to play.
And then finally, on Kovacic, Guardiola said the midfield maestro is out until September or October.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter